What more can you ask for in life? Cheers to good friends and family.
My sister Miwa and I built a gingerbread house this evening! I love building them but hadn’t built one in years, and so I determined to construct one this year! It came out a little messy because we didn’t have a piping bag and tips back at my parents’ house in Virginia, but we like to think it has personality! 😛
I can’t wait until the day comes when Mio is old enough to build gingerbread houses with me! 😀
We arrived in Virginia early Thursday morning and have been having a great time relaxing and spending time with family and friends since! But before too much time passed, I wanted to post about some of the festivities before we left California. Last Sunday, we celebrated Christmas a little early with Dan’s family. Here are some pictures!
Mio opening more Christmas presents from her grandparents…
On Monday, Aileen came to visit us to drop off Christmas presents and delicious coconut macadamia cookies for our whole family! She also handknit this scarf for Mio… so sweet and thoughtful of her! 😀
On Monday evening, we drove over to Tilden Regional Park in Berkeley to check out their Christmas Fantasy. Their Merry-Go-Round was surrounded by Christmas trees decorated in different themes, and there were bright illuminations outside. Mio had just woken up from a nap, though, so she looks serious in all the photos… haha*
We wanted Mio to get her first picture taken with Santa, but he unfortunately couldn’t be there that night… maybe next year?
From the pictures, it looks like Mio didn’t enjoy the illuminations and Christmas decorations as much as Dan and I did. Hopefully her appreciation for the holiday season will grow in coming years.
Stay tuned for photos from Virginia! 😀
On Saturday, we spent the day in San Francisco and visited the Fairmont Hotel to see the largest-ever gingerbread house to be built in San Francisco! It’s constructed of 7,500 gingerbread sticks, 1,200 pounds of chocolate icing and 650 pounds of candy! It was beautifully decorated and everything had so much detail. Thank you Megumi for suggesting we check it out! 🙂
Before we went to the Fairmont, we had lunch at The Stinking Rose, a garlic restaurant in San Francisco. I love garlic, so everything we had there was amazing!
Megumi brought thoughtful, generous Christmas gifts for everyone… so sweet of her!
Megumi brought her signature sugar cookies… they’re always so adorable, and get better and better every time (if that’s possible!).
It was so great seeing some of our San Francisco friends before we fly back East for Christmas! We had just all recovered from being sick the past couple weeks, so it was nice to be enjoy some holiday cheer! 😀
Today is Dan’s 29th birthday, so show him some birthday love! I didn’t have to work yesterday, so when Dan came home from work, I surprised him with a German chocolate cake I had decorated with a birthday message I knew he’d love! For those of you who don’t know, Dan is a huge fan of the Android OS, and we’re usually a house divided because I’m a big fan and user of the iOS/Mac operating system, while Dan is all about supporting Android. For his birthday, though, I decided to set aside my loyalty to Apple for a day and decorate Dan’s birthday cake with the Android mascot and the pun-ny birthday message, “Happy Birthday Dandroid.” As I expected, Dan loved it — I caught his reaction on video, too!
Happy birthday, Dan! Thank you for being the best husband and father in the world to Mio and I, and for everything you do! Looking forward to all the new memories we’ll make together in the coming year, and beyond. 🙂
Yesterday was Mio’s first Thanksgiving, and also our first Thanksgiving as a family of three! We drove over to Dan’s parents’ house in San Lorenzo in the late morning, and helped out in cooking what would become a delicious feast.
We brought the Pack n’ Play with us so that Mio could play in it while we were busy cooking. Dan’s parents’ dog Choco was very curious and kept sticking his nose against the playpen. Mio was almost equally as curious about Choco, but she’d cringe and grimace every time he’d try to lick her on the face.
After everyone’s collaborative hard work, it was time to dig in… everything was amazing. I ate so much that at the meal’s end, I felt as stuffed as the turkey I ate.
In the spirit of Thanksgiving, Mio tried turkey and gravy baby food for the first time. Unfortunately, she was not a fan.
She did, however, love her sweet potato. No surprise there!
Here’s Mio, getting entertained by Grandma.
We were letting Mio play with a bottle of vitamins, and she started making funny sounds with it. She’s quite the musician!
After all the excitement, Mio was quite tired and fell asleep in Grandpa’s arms…
This Thanksgiving, I am thankful for family and friends both near and far, for good health, for the freedom and opportunities to do what I love, and for the ability to give, and enrich my life and those of others. I am especially thankful this year for our darling little Mio, whom I have grown to love more unconditionally, selflessly, and boundlessly than I ever have before.
We hope everyone’s Thanksgiving was also full of love, good cheer, delicious food, and lots to be thankful for.